Ben

During the recent podcast, Mike Selinker shared with me the patent for the Chop Shop Challenge game he mentioned (which I can’t find online so far).  It says “Application status is Abandoned”.

Then of course there’s the two patents from Jordan Weisman of Wizkids, which I’ve researched and looked at before.  Both of those still appear to be in the…[Read more]

The only real bonus for them is that they can dock ships at it and transfer as much gold to it as they want, but it is very risky for them to do.

That brings up another question: is it treated like a home island for all intents and purposes, or as a ship?  If it’s a home island, they can “dock” at the ship and unload gold as a free action, and…[Read more]

Nice to see that the bored looking dude has made a comeback to something more interesting.

What do you mean by that?

Hmmm. Okay. How about dependent on a die roll and for one tun only, or would that not really fix the problem?

I just think a ship that can teleport is dumb and I can’t endorse it in any way regardless of the circumstances.

I think…[Read more]

@Ed: Interesting set of ideas there.  Have you played that scenario yet?

I just added the Master Mariner variant ruleset to the main page, which was created by game industry veteran Tim Kask.  🙂  (there are 5 pictures associated with it, from Gygax magazine)

About how broken would a ship with a base move of D be?

Not a good idea, especially since it’s really dumb thematically.  That would fall under the “just don’t” category, like L-cancellers for example.

Devil’s Phoenix
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: U
Point Value: 20
Number of Masts: 4
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons:…[Read more]

One of my favorite Mercenary/SE pieces from the set:

Stormrage
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: SE
Point Value: 20
Number of Masts: 3
Cargo Space: 6
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3L-4L-3S
Ability: Mercenary. Windcatcher. L-range cannons cannot hit this ship. This ship may dock at an enemy home island and take as much treasure as she…[Read more]

Had some decent pulls for those next two boxes, but on the last box with Seattle in it I pulled the 3 SR cards like woot and stuff, although why would a generic captain card be a super rare? That is quite lame.

The OE SR pack is rightly derided as the worst ever by a wide margin.  They had some other generic SR’s, though I agree that they could h…[Read more]

JH seems like a good gold runner/gatherer. I really like the Cove, nifty ability and nice flavor text too.

Thanks!  With her decent size cost I think of the JH as a kind of defensive or “escape” hybrid.

Tribal Execution
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: U
Point Value: 20
Number of Masts: 4
Cargo Space: 2
Base Move: S+S
Cannons:…[Read more]

That would be nearly perfect, but equipment are ussualy discarded when used maybe a unique treasure would be good. I would also accept an equipment that isn’t removed when used.

The LE equipment are eliminated after use, but they’re extremely rare and not as good as the regular versions so I don’t see that being an issue.

IMO the only way to do this would be to get an agreement/contract with NECA ahead of time to purchase the rights. Only then would you start a KS to raise the funds. If you just randomly started a KS to purchase something you have no idea if they even want to sell, I can’t imagine anyone backing it.

So if you’re serious, start at step 1 and see…

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I used old gift cards so millimeters thick and I used old business cards for the cardstock it was even thinner. The holes I sliced by razor so it was a really snug fit but if I messed up it was loose.

OK interesting, thank you for the specifics!  Did you cut the gift card plastic with a utility knife or some other blade?  It does make sense to u…[Read more]

Jamaica’s Hero
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Pirate
Rarity: C
Point Value: 14
Number of Masts: 3
Cargo Space: 5
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 4L-4L-3S
Ability: Schooner. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against English ships. If this ship is within S of an enemy ship when this ship is given a move action, she gets +S to her base move.

Flavor…[Read more]

I have used cardstock, plastic and cardboard all successfully but I like plastic and cardstock the most. the 5 mast ship in my profile image is cardstock.

What kind of plastic?  Do you know the thickness of it? (or where you got it from) Do you know the thickness of the cardstock?  Does the cardstock ship fit together better or worse than the W…[Read more]

Yeah it would definitely be powerful to capture a non-derelic but also realistic also looking back now I think a 1 cost crew could be a sail slasher that may destroy a mast when boarding successfully.

Indeed, or perhaps an equipment like “boarding axes” since anyone could do the deed.

Great podcast with Mike Selinker! I felt he shed a fair amount of light onto the inner workings and the development of Pirates.

Thank you!!  I agree!  It was more in-depth and awesome than I could have asked or hoped for.  Certainly one for the ages to look back upon.

And yes, the Dutch certainly had their fair share of wars against England.  The…[Read more]

my variant rule is that if there is no crew and you succeed then you may leave a crew on the losers ship to capture it.

Even if the ship isn’t derelict?  That seems very powerful to me.

I may warm up to the idea of setting fire while boarding though(no pun intended) but a simple way of handling all of this would maybe be special crew I.e. a…

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A fan version should be easy enough to start, given that imagery and trademarked elements don’t find their way into this version.

Hmmm… this is starting to remind me more and more of the previous attempt at a fan-made set that got bogged down with the legal troubles and actually coming up with funds to make anything.  I think it could be har…[Read more]